The Secret
by Criminal Minds lover4ever
Summary: Spencer Reid meets an old friend, Elizabeth, and the sparks fly. When she's abducted, Reid has to reveal the secret they share. Disaster strikes when the team has to deal with two Unsubs: the one who abducted Elizabeth and The Replicator. Will she make it out alive? Will they catch the Replicator? Or is it all too late? Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: Second Occurrence

**AN: I DON'T OWN CM. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO CBS AND JEFF DAVIS. IF I OWNED CM, REID WOULD BE HAPPY.**

"I became insane... with long intervals of horrible sanity."

-Edgar Allan Poe

The metro smells like dirty socks. People line every inch of the train car, making moving around impossible. An elderly man sits reading the paper. A mother sits holding her toddler in her arms. The little girl catches the eye of Dr. Reid, who looks up from his book, and the two seem to lock gazes. He stares at her for a few minutes, and the toddler begins laughing uncontrollably. Her mother looks at her little girl in bewilderment. She catches her little girl staring back at Dr. Reid who is smiling at the girl in a funny way.

When it's time for him to get off, he looks back at the little girl once more, and she waves. Waving back, he smiles as he turns, and lets his taped up, beaten down—favorite—pair of Converse hit the sidewalk.

He passes all sorts of people on his way to his favorite coffee shop. A couple holding hands, wearing coats to keep out the frigid air. The man is smiling, the girl beside him just as happy. Reid's heart breaks just a little when he sees them. He quickly walks away.

He passes a mother pushing a stroller. The little boy throws his teddy bear on the ground. Reid stops, picks it up, and hands it to the little boy's mother.

"Thank you," the very tired looking mother says.

"No problem," Reid says in "his" way.

"Maybe now he'll sleep, and I'll finally be able to get some shut-eye myself."

"Good luck with that," Reid says in an unassuming way.

Downtown DC. Cars are whooshing by—so many that their lights have molded into one color. After hoping off the metro, Dr. Reid, book in his left hand, walks into the coffee shop 3 blocks from Quantico. Walking, three blocks out of the way for coffee might seem egregious to some, but not to Dr. Reid. He loves coffee as much as he loves knowledge. He'd rather walk the three blocks for a good cup of coffee than drink the F.B.I. sludge that they call coffee.

The coffee shop is teeming with people. The small, quaint shop is full of warmth. The beige walls lit with lots of small tea lights create a soothing atmosphere. The sweet smell of the brewing coffee, and the steam from the coffee brewer hits Reid as soon as he walks through the door. The sound of the espresso machine, of the sound when the cashier puts the whipped cream in the cup, the smile she has when she hands customers their coffee and they hand her this month's rent. The tables are almost filled with people.

Spencer Reid is standing in line. He's the third one in line. When it's his turn, he pays for his coffee and receive the same smile the 2 in front of him did. He takes his coffee and moves to the granite counter. He removes the lid, and stirs his coffee. He tastes it and almost spits out the hot mixture. He's heaping mounds of sugar to his coffee when a voice behind him makes him instinctively reach for his weapon.

"Spencer Reid."

Slowly, he turns to face the voice. Surprised, "Elizabeth?"

"Yep. It's me," Elizabeth says. She stands there holding her coffee in one hand, a book in the other. Her long brown hair frames her face nicely, and her brown eyes keep Reid's gaze.

"How have you been?" Reid asks curious.

"I've been okay," she pauses. "So how many PhD's do you have now, like a billion ?"

Reid laughs. "A few. So what are you doing?"

"I just opened my own practice actually. I specialize in rare diseases." She moves to an empty table with Reid following suit. "So, are you still an F.B.I. agent?"

"Yeah. For like seven years."

"Well, I hate to cut our visit short, but I have to finish unpacking. Maybe if you're not busy tomorrow night, I can take you to dinner. I know a great Indian restaurant." Elizabeth sighs.

"Sure. I'd love too, if a case doesn't come up," he says smiling.

"Cool. Here's my number," she scrawls it down and hands it to him.

"I'll call you or you call me."

"We'll be in touch."

"I look forward to it," he says. He really is looking forward to it.  
_

Reid walks into the B.A.U with a smile. Morgan ambushes him.

"Pretty Boy, what's got you so happy?"

"I ran into an old friend of mine after 7 years, and we hit it off. We are going to dinner tomorrow night to catch up."

Aaron Hotchner walks into the bullpen. " Everybody has the next 2 days off. Go home. Get some rest."

"Cool," Morgan says. "Hey, Hotch."

"Yeah, Morgan?"

"Look at Reid."

They both turn to look at Reid.

"He's happy," Hotch says amazed.

"He ran into an old friend today."

"It's good to see him smile again."

"She may be the one for him, Hotch."

"Morgan, give him time to heal."  
_

Back in his apartment, Reid sits down with the coffee that he made and Chaucer. It's 8:00 A.M. The sun has just begun to rise over the horizon. Reid gets up from his old couch and walks over to the window where he opens the curtains. He looks around. _This place needs some up dating, _he thinks to himself. He makes a mental note to ask Morgan if he'd like to help him renovate.

He picks up his phone and hears the ringing of the other line. _Pick up._

Elizabeth jumps up from her bed when she hears her phone, and begins to dig for it in the mess of unpacked boxes. "Hello?," she asks.

"Hi, Lizzie. I hope I didn't wake you," Reid says warmly.

"No, you didn't wake me," Elizabeth says happily as she sits on her old couch and runs her hand through her hair.

"I was just calling about tonight," he begins.

"If you can't I completely understand," Elizabeth quickly says.

"So what time do you want to meet," Reid says assuaging her heart.

She breathes a sigh of relief. Reid notices, but doesn't let on.

"Will 7 work for you?" She asks.

"Sounds good. Well, I guess I'll see you at 7," he says not wanting to hang up.

"Alright, " she says not wanting to hang up either, "well, bye." she says awkwardly.

"Bye," he says.

Elizabeth sighs and lays her head back on her couch. Her day has just gotten better. Spencer is going to dinner with her tonight. She makes her way to the window where she throws open the curtains that were left there by the previous owner. She basks in the warmth of the sun. She moves to the corner where all the boxes are piled up, and she begins to go through one of them. She begins putting the contents away. Walking down the hall, to her room, she makes a mental note to get paint. The dark, brown colored walls won't do. Too dark.

Spencer smiles as he got off the phone. He's happy for the first time in a long time. He can't control the butterflies in his stomach. He remembers how easy it is—almost as easy as breathing—with Elizabeth. He gets her, she gets him. It's so natural.  
_

The street seems empty except for the occasional car. Walking a few blocks, Spencer steps over the crack in the sidewalk. He arrives at the restaurant. The chipped brick and trees with lights look weird for an Indian restaurant. Reid is standing outside the restaurant waiting. He's dressed in dress pants with a nice white button up shirt with a coat on and his purple bow tie. The clip-clop of heels catches he's attention.

He stands there with his mouth a-gape. Elizabeth approaches him wearing a beautiful knee length purple dress. Her hair is pulled back into a bun with little wisps that frame her heart shaped face.

"Spencer, close your mouth," she says giggling.

"You just look so beautiful."

"You don't look so bad yourself."

They sit in the crowded restaurant talking and laughing. The soft lighting and the Indian music give it a warm feel. The restaurant isn't claustrophobic, but their is a fair amount of people.

Curious, Elizabeth asks, "So, anyone special in your life?"

Reid takes a very deep breath before speaking. "There was. She was killed by an unsub."

"Oh, God. I'm sorry." Her face looks shocked and sad.

"What about you?"

"Iraq. 2008," she says trying not to cry.

"Sorry."

"You need a ride?" He asks.

"I'd hate to impose."

"No problem. I'm not letting you take a cab home."

"Well, I took one here," Elizabeth laughs. "Fine."

He opens the passenger side door and takes her hand, helping her in. He goes around to the driver side puts the key in the ignition, and looks before darting into the road.

"We need to get you a car," he begins, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I have one," she protests.

"One that is a hunk of junk. It got you to DC than died."  
_

Elizabeth and Reid stand outside his apartment.

"I had fun," Elizabeth says blushing.

"Me too. For the first time in a long time," Reid says. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure," she says like a giddy girl on Christmas.

Spencer opens the door. He walks in, followed by Elizabeth. He shuts and locks the door behind them.

"Wow, Spence, I love what you've done with the place," she says sarcastically.

"Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. Tea?" Spencer asks on his way into his kitchen.

"You know I love it," she replies. She walks over to his bookshelf. She remembers reading all of these books. The one that catches her eye is the one bound in a soft, brown leather. She grabs it, and sits on the couch.

Spencer comes and sits beside her.

"You still have this?" She asks.

"Yeah. Do you remember?"

"Of course. " She begins flipping the pages. The book is full of pictures of Spencer and Elizabeth from when they were kids. She stops on a picture of them in the park.

"Remember this one?" she asks. She looks back at the picture.

_Elizabeth, Spencer, and Ethan, their best friend, were in the park. They played in this park everyday so they were used to the Las Vegas humidity. Other kids were running around playing. Spencer, Ethan, and Elizabeth were playing tag. Ethan's mom was there, watching the children play. She rummaged through her bag to find her camera. She tried to get them to stand still so she could take their picture._

_Elizabeth is on the right smiling, Spencer's in the middle with this goofy grin plastered to his face, and Ethan is on the left, looking at his two best friends._

The screaming kettle brings her back to the present. Spencer goes to get the tea while she closes the photo album and sets it on the coffee table.

"Here you are," Spencer says handing her the tea.

"Thanks."

He sits back down on the couch, tea in hand.

"Spence," Elizabeth begins.

"Yes, Lizzie?"

"You remember when we were younger and we used to sit and see how similar our lives were?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I don't know," she says, face grim. "Forget I brought it up."

They sip their tea in silence. When her's is gone, she gets up,

Looking at her watch, "Spence, it's late. I have to work in the morning." She doesn't want to leave.

Spencer looks disappointed. "Well, let me show you out."

"Call you tomorrow?" she asks hopeful.

"You'd better," he says playfully.

She kisses him on the cheek. He sighs as he watches her walk away.

Elizabeth walks into her apartment. She sighs and sets her stuff down on the kitchen counter. She looks at all the boxes left to unpack, and slips out of her heels. She can't help but smile as she thinks of earlier that night. How happy she was for the first time in forever.

Reid slips his shoes off and settles in for bed.

"_No! Please, you don't have to do this," Spencer Reid begs. It is his second day of captivity and he knows the end of his life is almost near._

_He sits in the shanty, rickety, old chair in the cold, desolate shack. His hands are bound in front of him in a way that begs him to "go for it." Though the vertigo has almost set in, Reid notices the stench that burns his nose hairs. The smell of the burning fish hearts and livers penetrated the deep recesses of his conscious mind hours ago, but it is still unbearable. His mind literally aches, and he stopped thinking awhile ago. All sense of time has been erased, and as the blood oozes from his head, so does his hope of being rescued._

_The man in the trench coat circles him. Reid isn't sure who he is: Charles, Raphael, or Tobias. The man mumbles to himself._

"_Tobias?" Reid asks._

"_Yeah?" Tobias responds._

"_It's you."_

_Tobias gives a small chuckle. "Who were you expecting?"_

_But Reid doesn't answer. When Tobias approaches him, and pulls off his belt, Reid's heart is in his throat. He gulps, and prepares for the needle prick. Tobias takes out the needle and the vial, and looks pleadingly into Reid's eyes as he plunges it into Reid's right arm._

_Reid spasms in the chair before he throws his head back and lets the vertigo consume him._

_After the next injection, Reid begins foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. His eyes roll back into his skull. Tobias kicks the chair over._

"_Tobias, help me," Reid pleads. But Hankel just stands there. He watches as Reid' s seizure grows and he smiles as the darkness consumes Reid. He's no longer Tobias. He's Raphael. _

Reid jolts awake in his bed. He's drenched in sweat and his head's splitting. Groaning, he looks at his clock. 3:00 A.M . _Fantastic_, he thinks to himself.

He stretches, rubs his eyes, and gets out of bed. Sighing, he goes into his living room. He selects a book, sits on his couch, and begins reading.

Slamming the book down, he grabs his head in pain. He can't take these headaches. At first, he thought they were just the by-product of everything that had happened lately, but as time went on, he began to believe they were because of schizophrenia.

He awakes to the sun hitting his face—he had fallen asleep on his couch—he opens his eyes, basking in the warmth. A smile on his face, he checks the time.

"Hello?" the husky voice on the other end of the line asks.

"Morgan, it's Reid. Are you busy today?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I want to renovate my apartment, but I know nothing about renovating, and I'd probably end up cutting my leg off or something if I tried."

"Okay, Pretty Boy. How bout we meet at 1p.m.? Will that work?"

"I'll be there. Where exactly?" Reid asks, confused.

"The local hardware store. The one on Main." Morgan says laughing at Reid.


	2. Chapter 2: Lizzie

**AN: I DON'T OWN CM. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO JEFF DAVIS AND CBS. IF I OWNED CM, REID WOULD BE HAPPY.**

The store isn't busy, Morgan and Spencer are practically the only ones there. It smells like work, and lumber, and all the dangerous things that Reid can kill himself with, chop off his leg, frighten him. He makes a note to never actually agree to go to a hardware store again. The workers wear black aprons with nametags, and when one approaches Morgan, he sends him on his way.

The small store's paint is chipping off the walls, exposing the brick beneath it.

"So, Kid, what do you want to do to your apartment?" Morgan asks. Morgan and Spencer stand in the middle of the hardware store.

"I was kinda hoping you knew," Reid says out of his comfort zone. "Um, well, the kitchen needs new cabinets because the doors are falling off. The floors need to be redone because there's a draft, and they're water damaged. Oh, who am I kidding, the whole place needs to be done."

"So, do you know what size cabinets you need?" Morgan asks.

"W..what size cabinets?" Spencer asks perplexed.

"I'll come by later and measure them." Morgan pauses. "Have you at least painted since you moved in?

"No."

"Alright, we'll start there," Morgan says as he drags Reid to the paint.

There are hundreds of color swatches. Morgan holds one up, and Spencer shakes his head. They do this until Morgan picks up a light coffee colored one and Spencer says that's the color.

Morgan drags Reid all over the store picking up things that he'll need when Spencer stops and grabs his head in pain.

Spencer is standing in the middle of the tool aisle. Time seems to be suspended, and the whole world seems to spin as if on a violent merry go round. Spencer looks like he wants to split his head open with a rock.

Morgan, noticing Reid's distress, grabs a bucket, places it beneath Reid, and gently sits him on it.

"Pretty Boy, you okay?" Morgan asks, concerned.

"Oh, I'm fantastic," Reid sarcastically says while he grits his teeth.

"Are the headaches back?"

"No, I'm just bent over, holding my head in pain because I feel like it," Reid snaps at him sarcastically. His face falls. "Sorry."

"What can I do?" Morgan asks though he clearly doesn't know what to do.

Spencer hands him his phone. "Call Elizabeth."

"Who?"

"My friend who I ran into at the coffee shop."

Morgan looks through the contacts, and when he finds the number, he presses the call button.

"Field's of Research, this is Elizabeth. How can I help you?" Elizabeth says warmly. She grabs a notepad and a pen, and waits for the person to tell her about their medical condition.

"This is Derek Morgan, Spencer's friend,"

"What can I do for you?"

"Is there anyway you can squeeze Reid in today?"

"Let me check. Hang on a second." She begins looking at todays appointments. "I can squeeze him in, but you will have to get here like now."

"Alright. We are getting in the car right now." Morgan drags Reid to the car.  
_

Morgan opens the door, and pushes Reid in. Morgan gets in.

Morgan pulls up to the building. The sign is a happy one—as if to say that the office can treat anyone. Reid is hunched over in his seat, the pain so intense, he can feel the vomit rising in his throat. He is doing everything he can to keep it down.

Morgan gets Reid out of the car and lets Reid lean on him for support. Walking through the front door, Morgan approaches the front desk.

The sage green walls give off an air of comfort, as it should. _Field's of Research_ is painted in black cursive letters on the wall behind the front desk.

The middle aged receptionist sitting behind the desk looks up from her computer when Morgan approaches. Her small, birdlike face stares at Morgan in annoyance. She clearly wants to go home.

"What can I do for you?" she asks in an annoyed tone.

"Spencer Reid. He has an appointment with Dr. Fields."

Not even looking at Morgan, she begins typing Spencer's name in to the computer.

"There's no one named Spencer Reid who has an appointment today."

"Thanks, Margo. I can take it from here," Elizabeth says approaching Morgan and Reid.

"But"

"You can go," Elizabeth tells Margo. She can't be sure, but she swears she can see Margo log out of her computer, and giddily run out of the office.

Turning to Morgan, Elizabeth says, "Dr. Fields. You must be Derek Morgan?" She holds out her hand while smiling at him.

When she smiles at Morgan, time seems nonexistent. Her smile is worth more than a thousand diamonds. When she smiles, everything is warm. Morgan can tell that she cares about the ones she loves just as much as the ones she helps. She has this way about her, Morgan doesn't know what it is, but with his profiler training, he can tell that she's something.

"That's me." he shakes her hand.

"If you'll follow me." Elizabeth says gently. She turns, which allows Morgan to grab Reid. He follows her.

They head to her office.

Her office is a medium sized room. The walls are adorned with a soothing green—sage green—paint. Her desk is so pristine it could pass a military inspection. Her PhD in medicine from Yale is displayed on the wall, right in the middle as if t were her only crowning achievement.

Morgan notices the stacks of patient files all over the room. _Does this girl ever sleep?_ He thinks to himself while giving an audible chuckle.

"Spence, I was supposed to call you today, anyway." She says smirking. " And yes I do sleep," she answers Morgan as if she has just read his mind.

"Can you help him?" Morgan asks, concerned for the well being and health of his friend.

"I can, but first he needs to answer some questions."

Spencer nods, still hunched over. The color on the walls burning his irises.

"When did the headaches first start?"

"Three years ago." Reid looks green. Morgan puts the waste basket in front of Reid and Reid throws up.

"Sensitivity to light?" Elizabeth asks not looking at Reid. She is jotting down notes on a tiny note pad.

He nods.

"Any hallucinations?" She asks unjudgingly. Her job is to help people, not judge their mental status.

"Yes, but I'm not crazy. It's not something that's pyshcosymptomatic," Reid vehemently denies while looking at her.

"I never said you were, or that it was, Spence," Elizabeth says comfortingly. "Do you take any vitamin supplements?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

"Magnesium."

"Uh huh. I see," she says, continuing to jot down things on her tiny note pad. "Do the headaches get worse when you sit up or lay down?" She asks, and Reid is confident she knows what's wrong with him.

Reid looks perplexed. "Um, I don't know."

"Try something for me. Lay down on the couch."

He looks at her like she's crazy.

"Humor me, Spence."

He goes over and lays down.

"Better?"

"Little bit."

"I know what's wrong with you, but I need to a lumbar puncture to be sure."

"What is a lumbar puncture?" he asks.

"A doctor sticks a needle this long into the vertebrae in you back to measure the amount of spinal fluid you have," she sticks up two fingers on the opposite hand to tell him that the needle is 5 inches long.

"Will it hurt?"

"Like a mother."

"So, Dr. Fields, what do you think is wrong with him?" Morgan asks.

"I believe Spencer has a CSF leak. A cerebral spinal fluid leak. A CSF leak is when your spinal fluid is released form your head, causing extreme headaches, dizziness, pain in your head, and often hallucinations."

"Can it be fixed?"

"Yes. So if the spinal tap(lumbar puncture) comes back positive then you will be scheldued for surgery. the doctors will find the leak and patch it and you'll be good as new," she says with hope.

"Let's do it."

"Now, you will need about a week to recover." She sits down at her desk and begins writing. "Okay, well, I'll bring over the necessary paperwork, and it'll be about two weeks before you can have the spinal tap(lumbar puncture.) Here", he hands him the list.

"Do all these things before the spinal tap."

"Thanks, Dr. Field's", Morgan says as he gets up to leave.

"Please, Elizabeth," she tells him.

Spencer walks over and gives Elizabeth a hug.

"I'll come by at 7."

"I'll be there," Spencer says.

Morgan thanks Elizabeth once again. Spencer, though still in pain, manages to thank Elizabeth as well.

They both walk to the SUV, and Morgan watches as Spencer sighs, and gets in the passenger side.

Getting in, Morgan asks, "Are you okay, Pretty Boy?" Morgan is driving.

Spencer looks at him like someone who has just been told that their dog died. "I thought that if I had answers, I'd feel better, but they've only made me feel worse."

Keeping his eyes on the road, Morgan responds. "Did anyone know about the headaches?"

"I told Emily, and Maeve. Maeve offered me some relief from the headaches. In fact, she was the one who told me to take the magnesium supplements. "

"Did it help?"

"Yeah. For a while. Until-"

"Until Maeve died?"

Spencer nods.

"Maybe the recent trauma of that event caused them to flair up again," Morgan says comfortingly.

"Maybe." Spencer says.

"Hey, Kid?"

"Yeah, Morgan?"

"You'll heal."

"Thanks."  
_

Spencer gets up when he hears the knock. He set his beat up, first edition on the coffee table. He opens it to find his best friend standing there, happy as always.

"Hey," Elizabeth says softly, smile plastered to her face. A huge smile, plastered from ear to ear, but one that is also cautious.

"Hi," Spencer says. He doesn't know what it is, but he can't help and smile when he sees her. A part of his heart is alive, it's okay when he's with her.

He wraps his arms around her, and she wraps her around him. They hold the hug for what seems like infinite.

Pulling away, Elizabeth takes the papers out of her back. "Here."

Spencer takes them and throws them down on the coffee table. The coffee table's finish is chipping off.

"Well, I guess I should go," Elizabeth mumbles.

"Lizzie?" Reid asks, small.

"Yeah."

"Will you stay?"

Elizabeth looks at his face and she can see his eyes are blood-shot and puffy. "Of course. What's wrong?"

They sit down.

"A few months ago, I watched the girl I loved, Maeve be murdered by her stalker."

"And you think its your fault right?"

Spencer shakes his head.

"It's not, "she says while rubbing his back comfortingly.

"It is. I offered my life for hers, and her stalker just took her away." Spencer's voice cracks.

"Come here," she wraps her arms around him and holds him while the sobs rack his body. "It's not your fault," she says repeatedly, whispering it in his ear.

"Lizzie?"

"Yes?"

"Does it ever go away? The hurt? The emptiness?"

"No, but it does get easier. One day, you'll think of her and you won't hurt. It's been 5 years since I buried my husband, and not a day goes by that I don't wish he was here."

"I want to tell you the whole story," Spencer says hiccupping.

"I'll order a pizza."  
_

"I'm back." Elizabeth says walking through the door. Spencer gets up from the couch and takes the pizza from her full hands.

"What took you so long?"

Elizabeth pulls the bottle out of the bag. "This."

"I don't drink."

"Trust me, you'll want to after tonight.

Spencer laughs.  
_

Spencer grabs another slice of pizza out of the box.

_"To be honest, I was a little distracted by your thesis," Reid says. He's sitting in the warehouse, blindfold on, chair facing Maeve. Maeve's stalker, Diane is there._

_"Flattery won't get you out of this," Diane says, frustrated._

_"Me for her. That was the deal."_

_"Alright," Diane walks to the chair that Reid's sitting in. She takes off the blindfold. "Tell her you don't love her." "Say it to her face."_

_Reid looks at Maeve and his heart breaks. the truth is is that he loves her with everything in him. "Sorry, I don't love you."_

_Maeve shakes her head as if she understood his plan._

_Diane is standing before Maeve, who is still tied up, and is pointing a gun to her head. Reid jumps up from his chair, and tries to tackle Diane, to try to get the gun away from her. In the struggle, the gun goes off and Reid takes a bullet to the arm. He goes down, and the rest of the team moves in._

_He gets up and puts himself between the team and Diane. Time seems to be frozen._

_Diane looks at the rest lf the team, their guns pointed directly at her, and their faces "dare her" to do something stupid. __Grabbing Maeve by the neck, Diane puts her in front of her, and points the gun to her temple._

_"Wait," Reid practically begs._

_But it's too late. Diane pulls the trigger, taking herself and Maeve with her._

_Reid begins to cry, and he looks like he wants to die._

Spencer begins to shake. Elizabeth wraps him in a hug.

Elizabeth cracks open the bottle of wine and pours Spencer a glass. And for the first time, he happily takes it.  
_

The sun shines through the small window of Spencer's bedroom. Elizabeth groans, and rubs her eyes. She sits up in the bed, stretching.

Looking at Spencer's alarm clock, she quickly gets up and begins rushing around trying to get ready.

She walks down the hall—she goes to get her toothbrush—when she sees Spencer sleeping on the couch. Her head is pounding.

"You okay?"

The voice behind her almost makes her jump out of her skin.

"Don't do that, Spence," she playfully huffs at him.

"Sleep well?" He asks while sitting up on the couch.

"What happened?" she asks groggily as she runs a hand through her messy brown hair.

"We were talking last night, and had a bottle of wine,"

"I love hangovers," she says sarcastically.

"Well, it's your fault for getting drunk," Spencer playfully blames her.

"Did you sleep out here all night?"

"Yes."

"Always a gentleman," she mumbles to herself, unaware that Spencer has heard her.

Spencer gets up from the couch, his long blue flannel pajama pants too long for him. He gets the coffee out and makes it.

"I'm going to go change," Elizabeth tells him before slipping into his room.

When she returns from his room, she gasps when she sees the kitchen table set with two plates of breakfast and coffee.

"Breakfast is served," he says smiling at her, his brown hair all over the place.

They are eating when Spencer's cell phone rings.

"Excuse me," he says.

He walks across the room, and answers it. "Hello?"

"Reid-"

"Hotch, what's wrong? Something must be wrong if you're calling at 7a.m."

"Reid, I know you have the day off, but there's been a murder. A secretary at a doctor's office."

"The victim's name?" Spencer asks, not prepared for the answer Hotch is going to give him.

"Margo Jennings."

"M..Margo Jenings?" Spencer asks in disbelief.

"You know her?"

"She's the secetary at Elizabeth's practice."

"Who?"

"Oh, my best friend that I ran into the other day."

The conversation goes on.

"Sure, thanks, Hotch. I'll tell her." Spencer hangs up, and walks into the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" Elizabeth asks, seeing Spencer's face.

"Margo was murdered."


End file.
